On Thursday, the Bombay High Court cancelled the lookout circulars (LOC) issued against Rhea Chakraborty, her brother Showik Chakroborty, retired army officer Indrajit Chakraborty and her mother Sandhay. The lookout circulation was issued against the family about Sushant Singh Rajput’s suicide case. The lookout notice was issued by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against Rhea Chakraborty in the year 2020.
The two bench judges comprising Justice Revati Mohite Dere and Justice Manjusha Deshpande passed a verdict on Thursday, quashing the LOCs. The appeal was filed by the petitioners and the judgement was given in favour of them, which challenged the restriction imposed by LOCs.
An LOC means when the person is not permitted to travel outside of the country without permission from the court.
Sushant Singh Rajput was found dead in his apartment in Bandra on the 14th of February, 2020. A complaint was filed by Sushant’s father in the Bihar police station wherein he accused Rhea, Rajput’s then-girlfriend and her family members of abetting Sushant to commit suicide.
The actress was arrested in September 2020 concerning the drug case filed by the CBI. However, she was released on bail in October 2020. She was granted bail as the Centre even did not challenge the case further. The actress was also seeking permission from the court to travel outside of the country.
Rhea Chakraborty has challenged the LOCs imposed by the CBI before the high court. She claimed that this prevents her from fulfilling work commitments. Rhea stated that she is cooperating with the officials in the investigation.
The Judges initially questioned the CBI’s intention behind imposing LOCs merely based on FIR. The issue that the complaint was originally lodged in Patna and was taken over by CBI in Delhi was also deliberate. Rhea’s advocates argued that as both the parties are from the same location, Mumbai’s jurisdiction should be considered as valid.
The court also emphasized the matter stating that a chargesheet had also not been filed by the CBI, since 2020. They urged on the importance of conducting legal proceedings accurately. It will also be remarked that LOCs should only be imposed upon an accused if there is a piece of vital evidence that he/she has been evading public arrests and legal proceedings.
